


Settling in the Lines

by Avengers_Whore



Series: A Little Color Called Life [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adopted Tony, Adoption, Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Omega Bruce Banner, Omega Steve Rogers, Omega Tony Stark, Parent Bucky Barnes, Parent Steve Rogers, Precious Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 14:45:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20695283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avengers_Whore/pseuds/Avengers_Whore
Summary: “Waffles, p’ease,” Tony murmured, laying his head on the omega’s shoulder. Steve smiled and nodded his head, carrying the little omega into the kitchen. He settled the pup onto the table and poked his nose gently, enticing a soft giggle from the boy. “Steeb, can we have choc’late chips?”“Of course honey,” the blond man said, gently tickling the boy’s side.-Special thank you to Anna for suggesting the idea for a little "settling period" for these three!





	Settling in the Lines

The first few days after Tony moved into the apartment were quiet and peaceful, a nice time for the small family as the young pup adjusted to the new space around him. There was no set routine in the household since Bucky and Steve didn’t have a schedule they had to keep to and the trio were slowly settling in.

And then the “honeymoon” period ended.

Tony had nightmares almost every night and the little pup just couldn’t keep up with the lack of sleep. Bucky and Steve were starting to struggle as well, getting up every night to go comfort their baby boy.

“Shhh, shhh...it’s okay, Tony, you’re okay,” Steve purred softly, rubbing the boy’s back and rocking back and forth. Tony was clinging onto his shirt and had his face buried into his chest, sniffling softly. Bucky was leaning against the door jam, practically asleep standing up.

“D-Don’t leave me,” the boy whimpered, clutching on tighter. The blond omega’s heart broke and he nuzzled the top of his head.

“Never, sweetheart, we’ll never leave you. How about you sleep in our bed tonight?”

Tony nodded his head against the older omega’s chest and Steve purred louder, carefully standing up and making his way out of the room with Bucky leading the way. They made their way into their room across the hall and crawled back in bed, placing Tony between them and moving in so he was almost squished between them.

“That better, baby boy?” Bucky asked quietly, nuzzling the boy and scenting him protectively. The small brunet nodded his head and curled up, little fingers still clinging loosely to Steve’s shirt. Both adults shared a look over the boy, silently communicating before they both went back to sleep.

-

“Okay so it says here that we should try putting together a routine for him,” Bucky said, pointing at a page in the parenting book he was reading. After the last few nights, they’d decided they needed to give something new a try instead of hoping the nightmares would cease after a few nights.

“A routine? Yeah that makes sense. They had one when he was at the orphanage,” Steve murmured, looking over his alpha’s shoulder to look at the book.

“Alright so we’ll set one up. We just have to keep to it as much as possible,” the alpha replied, kissing his mate’s cheek. He looked over as he heard Tony come out of the hallway, the little pup rubbing his eye tiredly with one hand and clutching his bear with the other.

“There’s my baby,” Steve purred, walking over and picking Tony up in his arms. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Waffles, p’ease,” Tony murmured, laying his head on the omega’s shoulder. Steve smiled and nodded his head, carrying the little omega into the kitchen. He settled the pup onto the table and poked his nose gently, enticing a soft giggle from the boy. “Steeb, can we have choc’late chips?”

“Of course honey,” the blond man said, gently tickling the boy’s side. Tony squealed and squirmed away from Steve’s hand with another giggle. “Are chocolate chip waffles your favorite?”

“No, I like cinnamon oatmeal best,” the pup told him, kicking his legs back and forth. He sounded far more awake now than he did a few moments before. “I really like it when there’s strawberries in it.”

“Oh yeah?” Steve asked, smiling as he pressed a kiss to his pup’s forehead. He went over to the cabinet to pull out the waffle mix and everything else they needed. “That’s good to know. I’ll send Bucky to the store so you can have some for breakfast tomorrow.”

“Really?”

“Of course, baby boy. Whatever you want to eat, we’ll get it for you,” the blond purred as he mixed everything together while the waffle iron heated up. Bucky came into the kitchen and scooped Tony up off of the table, kissing his cheek wetly.

“Buck, no!” Tony squealed, rubbing at his cheek vigorously. “Too wet.”

“Oh I’m sorry baby,” Bucky rumbled, smiling and nuzzling at the pup. He walked over to Steve and watched him pour batter into the iron. “I called Rhodey and he recommended Bruce Banner.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, even Sam sings his praises so I think he’s a good choice. You want me to set up an appointment?”

“Of course,” Steve said, turning to face his mate and pup. Tony was looking between them with a confused furrow in his brow. “Oh baby, we’re just talking about getting you a doctor in case you get any ouchies.”

Tony immediately shrank back into Bucky’s arms, curling up and giving a soft, unsure whimper. Both adults could easily see how anxious the younger omega had become at just the mention of a doctor.

“It’s okay, Tones. We’ll go and meet him and if you don’t like, you won’t have to see him ever again,” Bucky reassured, letting out a bit more of his alpha scent to soothe the little brunet. “And we’ll be with you the whole time, holding your hands.”

“Really?” Tony asked quietly, looking up at the alpha’s face.

“You know it, baby boy,” the alpha told him, ruffling his brown curls. Tony smiled slightly and curled into the older brunet’s chest, breathing in his scent and calming down quickly. Steve smiled and pulled the first waffle out of the iron, placing it on a plate.

-

The small family of three settled into a routine after that. They woke up every day at the same time and got Tony up and dressed in his clothes for the day. One of the adults would take him to the living room and watch cartoons for half an hour while the other one made breakfast and then they’d have breakfast.

After breakfast, Tony and Steve would color and paint respectively since the blond omega needed to work on his new pieces for an art show and the smaller omega liked coloring while Steve painted and Bucky was at work.

Tony and Steve would then have lunch and after lunch they’d go outside and either play at the playground or run errands depending on if they needed to go to the store or not. They’d return home and Tony would have his afternoon nap and by the time he woke up, Bucky would be home and they could start on dinner.

After dinner was movie time and then after movie time was bedtime for the toddler. It took about a week and a half before Tony settled into the new routine but now he was happier than he’d been before. His anxiety was more or less under control for the most part now that everything was familiar.

And now they were stepping outside his comfort zone with this doctor’s appointment. Tony was trembling ever so slightly in his car seat, clutching onto Steve’s hand in the backseat while Bucky was up front driving the car. Steve was leaning against the car seat and purring softly, trying to soothe the pup as much as possible.

The boy trembled the whole way into the clinic, the whole wait in the waiting room, and the whole trip to the exam room. He was still shaking in Bucky’s arms, clinging onto the alpha’s shirt.

“We’re right here, honey,” Steve murmured, rubbing Tony’s back. He had a worried frown on his face and he felt infinitely guilty but the boy needed a checkup and a doctor. He looked up when the door opened and kind-looking omega stepped inside.

“Good afternoon, everybody. I’m Dr. Banner,” the omega murmured, closing the door behind him.

“It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Banner. I’m Bucky, this is my mate, Steve, and this is our pup, Tony,” Bucky introduced, shaking the doctor’s hand when it was offered.

“It’s nice to meet you too. And it’s nice to meet you, too, Tony,” Bruce said, smiling kindly when the toddler looked at him shyly. “I bet you’re pretty nervous, huh?”

Tony quickly nodded his head and pressed himself closer to Bucky.

“Well that’s okay. Do you think it’d be better if you called me Bruce? That way it’s like I’m not even a scary doctor.”

“O-Okay,” Tony whispered, watching the older omega with wide, brown eyes. “H-Hi Bruce.”

“Hi Tony. I just wanna check up on a few things, is that okay with you?” Bruce asked the toddler, still keeping some distance so that he didn’t pressure the pup.

“What kinda things?”

“Like… make sure your heart is beating and make sure your ears don’t have any _worms_ in them,” the doctor told him faux-seriously. Tony gasped and looked over at Steve with wide eyes.

“Do I have worms in my ears?!”

“I don’t know, baby boy,” Steve told him with a smile and a small shrug. The pup looked up at Bucky next, who gave a shrug as well but couldn’t hold back a small laugh.

“It’s alright, Tony. Let’s check to be sure, huh?” Bruce said, slowly walking over with a few of his tools. He picked one up and showed it to the boy. “So this one lets me look right into your head! I’ll be able to see if there’s any worms in your ears.”

“O-Okay,” Tony agreed. He turned his head when prompted and stiffened slightly when he felt the tool poke into his ear. It wiggled around slightly which prompted a giggle out of him.

“Good news! No worms to be found,” Bruce told him, pulling the tool back. The pup laughed again and became more engaged with the doctor, pointing to each item and asking what it did and how it worked.

Bucky looked over at Steve, meeting his eyes and smiling softly. Everything would be alright.

-

Everything was not alright.

The little family of three had been together for 6 months now, long enough that Tony had firmly settled into his new home and Steve and Bucky had worked out the perfect routine for their little bundle of omega. The only problem that still occurred - and really, Steve was the only one calling it a problem - was that Tony was still calling them by their names.

The blond omega was hoping and praying for the day their little boy finally called him ‘mama’ or ‘mommy.’

Except now both Steve and Bucky were impatiently waiting in the emergency room for a nurse to come out and tell them what was wrong with their baby boy. He and Bucky had been at the park while Steve was working out the details of his art show with Pepper. It had been a sunny, beautiful day with a nice breeze.

The perfect day to go outside.

Bucky had turned his back for one second to answer a phone call while Tony was on the swings. Barely a second. The next thing he knew, his pup was on the ground and gasping for air, struggling to breathe.

So now they were in the emergency room and everything in Steve was _screaming_ at him to find his baby and hold him no matter what any nurse or doctor said. Instead he tried to relax in his mate’s hold and wait as patiently as he could.

Which wasn’t patient at all.

Both of them perked up when a nurse came through the doors and walked over in their direction. She gave a warm smile and motioned for them to follow her, which they did immediately. Steve was practically stepping on her heels the whole way back to the exam room, anxious and distressed which was why he hadn’t been allowed back in the first place.

“Hey, Stevie, he’s fine,” Bucky murmured, grabbing his omega’s hand and pulling him back to his side. The blond huffed softly before wrapping his arms around Bucky’s arm.

“Your mate is right, Tony’s going to be just fine,” the nurse said with a smile, stopping in front of a door and opening it up for them. “Dr. Cho will be by soon to explain everything in detail but your pup has a severe allergic reaction to a bee sting.”

Steve bolted over to the bed and fussed over Tony, who whimpered out some sort of word softly and made grabby hands at the blond. The older omega gently took the boy’s hands in his and squeezed them gently, purring happily when he squeezed back.

“Thank you,” Bucky murmured to the nurse before joining his mate and pup.

“Mmm… ‘p,” Tony murmured, pulling his hands from Steve’s and making grabby hands again.

“What, baby?” Steve asked softly, tilting his head to the side. The brunet boy got shy all of a sudden before a look of determination crossed his features.

“Mama, up,” he said louder this time, whining when he wasn’t appeased immediately. The blond omega sat there in shock for a moment before carefully getting up on the bed and picking the pup up, resting him against his chest.

“There we go, sweetheart, mama’s here, mama’s right here,” Steve reassured, rubbing his back and purring even louder than before. Bucky chuckled softly when he saw the unshed tears in his omega’s eyes.

-

It was always hard to tell when Tony had a nightmare. He wasn’t a wailer or a screamer, he just curled up and cried quietly or whimpered. It was usually instincts that woke Steve and Bucky up to go check on the toddler.

But both of them bolted upright at the sudden wail that ripped through almost the whole apartment. Steve was out of bed in an instant, running from their bedroom and across the hall right into Tony’s room. The toddler was screaming and crying, clutching onto his teddy bear.

“No, no!” Tony wailed as Steve tried to pick him up, squirming away from him. “Daddy! _Daddy!_”

“I’m right here, baby boy, right here,” Bucky rumbled, immediately swooping in and scooping the little omega up into his arms. He hushed and bounced him, rubbing his back and letting the pup crying into his shoulder.

“Daddy,” Tony whimpered, clinging onto him once his sobs died down.

“You’re okay, honey, daddy’s got you. Let’s go sleep in mama and daddy’s nest tonight,” the alpha murmured, bouncing him lightly as he walked around the room. The pup nodded his head tiredly and Bucky walked back across the hall with Steve following on his heels. The three crawled into the nest and Bucky kept the pup right up against his chest.

“We’ll protect you, sweetheart, you can go back to sleep now,” Steve purred, rubbing the toddler’s back as he slowly relaxed between his parents.


End file.
